Public Media

The Fall of the BBC?

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Article in The Guardian by Michael Savage, 3/5/26

Headline:  “BBC says ‘irreversible’ trends mean it will not survive without major overhaul”

Subhead: “In opening response to charter review, corporation points to ‘mismatch’ between TV licence rules and viewing habits”

“The BBC has said it is facing “permanent and irreversible” trends that mean it cannot survive without a major overhaul, as it revealed a stark divergence between the number of people consuming its content and those paying the licence fee. . .”

“It said the rise of streaming services and digital platforms such as YouTube had caused blurring and confusion around when the licence fee needed to be paid, suggesting there was “a mismatch” between TV licence rules – based on watching live TV – and the nation’s viewing habits. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/05/bbc-charter-renewal-tv-licence-major-overhaul

Nonprofit Lifeline for Journalism?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Emily Bell and Heatger Chaplin, 2/19/26

Headline: “Profit or Nonprofit? A Debate over Journalism’s Future”

Subhead: “While the newspaper industry continues to contract, nonprofit news outlets have proliferated over the past decade. But dismissing profitable models for journalism is premature. “

“How can journalism survive? Perhaps the question would once have sounded unduly panicked, but it has only grown more pressing over the past twenty years. Between 2004 and 2019, newspapers lost an astonishing 77 percent of their jobs—more than any other industry on record, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/profit-nonprofit-debate-journalism-future-amazon-washington-post-bezos-bureau-labor-statistics.php

Citizen Journalists Expose Real Truth

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Article in The Nation by Mark Hertsgaard, 1/29/26

Headline:  “Citizen Journalists Are Minneapolis’s Unsung Heroes”

Subhead:  “Without their videos of ICE shootings, we wouldn’t know what is really happening.”

“n Sunday afternoon, CNN anchor Jake Tapper was interviewing US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hours after Border Patrol agents killed Alex Pretti. Suddenly, CNN cut away to live coverage of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference. Noem declared that Pretti had ‘attacked our officers’ while ‘brandishing’ a handgun and planned ‘to kill law enforcement.’ When a reporter tried to ask a question about her claim, she interrupted to say, ‘That is no claim. It is the facts.’ When another reporter noted that the White House had just called Pretti a ‘domestic terrorist,’ Noem forcefully agreed.

“By this time, bystanders’ videos of the shooting were appearing online and on news outlets. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/citizen-journalists-minneapolis-heroes/

Local Minneapolis Journalists

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Article in Poynter by Kristen Hare, 1/26/26

Headline:  “What’s happening in Minneapolis? Hear it from the journalists who live there.”

Subhead: “In a moment of national attention, local reporters are offering clarity, context and accountability from the ground”

“Even after more than a decade of covering the local news industry, it still takes me time to remember to get off social media, my phone, national news and wherever else I’m getting information and go directly to the source — the people who live there, who pay taxes there, who worship and shop and vote and raise their families there.

“In the last few weeks, that source has been journalists and newsrooms in Minnesota after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot and killed Renee Good and Border Patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/local-news/2026/minneapolis-ice-shootings-local-journalists-news/

Radio Stations vs. Cuts

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Lucy Schiller, 1/21/26

Headline:  “The NPR and Colorado Stations That Took Trump to Court”

Subhead:  “It isn’t just an affront to localism. It’s an attempt to reengineer thought.”

“. . .Nationally, the landscape of public radio has been charred since last July, when Congress stripped more than a billion dollars from public broadcasting, at the behest of Donald Trump, who released an executive order characterizing NPR and PBS as “biased.” NPR prepared to file suit against the Trump administration in federal court, arguing that the stoppage of funds, via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, inhibited freedom of speech, in the form of viewpoint discrimination. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/the-npr-and-colorado-public-media-radio-stations-that-took-trump-to-court.php

Community Radio Back in St. Louis

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Headline:  “Community Radio St. Louis Goes Live February 1”

Subhead:  “Over 60 former KDHX volunteers plus new broadcasters will revive local music and arts services online”

“At noon Central time on Sunday, February 1, 2026, eclectic music and perspectives will once again beam into St. Louis and around the world from a new all-volunteer internet station, Community Radio St. Louis (CRSTL). Commercial-free webcasting from CRSTL.FM will revive the strong grassroots voice supporting regional culture that was silenced last year by the radio frequency sale and demise of KDHX-FM. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.crstl.fm/

Cloud Over New York Media Strategy?

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Article in Poynter by Taylor Jung, 1/13/26

Headline:  ‘I’m a community journalist in New York City. Here’s why Mamdani’s “influencer presser” stung.’

Subhead:  “Mayor Mamdani’s ‘new media’ strategy prioritizes content creators while locking out the community outlets that serve New York’s neighborhoods”

“On the evening of Jan. 6, members of the press received Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public schedule for the following day. Mamdani was slated to host his first ‘new media press conference.’ It stated that the event would be ‘invited press only.’

We journalists who work for community news outlets weren’t part of that list. We’ve had difficulty getting in touch with Mamdani’s team since before he took office.”

read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/zohran-mamdani-influencers-journalists/

Broadcasting into Iran Stopped?

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Article in Mediaite by Sarah Rumpfm 1/13/26

Headline: “Kari Lake Blocks Radio Free Europe from Using U.S. Transmitter in Kuwait to Broadcast into Iran: Report”

“US Agency for Global Media senior advisor Kari Lake has blocked Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from broadcasting into Iran using a USAGM transmitter located in Kuwait, reported Oliver Darcy in his Status newsletter.

“Lake narrowly lost the 2022 Arizona governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, and since then has paired her support for former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election with her own unfounded accusations that her election was stolen from her as well. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/kari-lake-blocks-radio-free-europe-from-using-u-s-transmitter-in-kuwait-to-broadcast-into-iran-report/

R.I.P. CPB

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Public media are not state-controlled media

Article in The Guardian by Lauren Aratani, 1/5/26

Headline:  “Corporation For Public Broadcasting formally dissolves after federal funding cuts”

Subhead:  “Board of directors vote to dissolve organization after nearly 60 years in operation after funding cuts under Trump”

“The nonprofit charged by Congress with allocating funds to NPR, PBS and other US public radio and television stations announced is dissolving after massive federal funding cuts under Donald Trump.

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Monday that its board of directors had voted to dissolve the organization after nearly 60 years in operation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/05/corporation-for-public-broadcasting-board-dissolves

Standing Firm Against Targeting

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Article in the New York Times by Benjamin Mullin

Headline:  “NPR’s C.E.O. Was a Right-Wing Target. Then the Real Trouble Started.”

Subhead:  “Katherine Maher has taken an unyielding approach to NPR’s biggest battles — which has sometimes put her at odds with her colleagues in public media.”

“. . .Ms. Maher, 42, stood by her strategy.

“ ‘The government targeted public funding to punish specific editorial decisions it disagreed with,’ she said in a recent interview with The New York Times. ‘That’s not a funding dispute dressed up as a constitutional case; that’s textbook First Amendment retaliation.’

“Ms. Maher’s stance brought support pouring in for her organization. NPR emerged from the biggest political battle in its history on firm footing, generating record donations. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/business/npr-katherine-maher.html